“If you come across a situation that looks impossible, you can cower under it or you can take it head on. My son took it head on.” – Nancy Frates, ALS Patient Advocate, Co-Creator of the Ice Bucket Challenge with son Pete Frates

Building a movement takes a village. We’ve all heard that phrase before – it takes a village – but in my opinion it has no greater application than it does when applied to revolutionizing healthcare. With everything we do as far as being science-driven, we must also marry that work with the patient advocates that truly motivate and inspire us.

The energy running through this summit right now is like nothing I’ve ever seen. And it’s been further rooted this morning by a charge from a true inspiration to us all: Nancy Frates. We had the fortune of hosting Nancy on Day 2 of the Powering Precision Health Summit, where she shared her family’s story with us, walked us through the birth of the Ice Bucket Challenge and all awareness her son, Pete Frates, has been able to generate and articulate for ALS in front of new demographics and generations. Above all, Pete succeeded in getting all walks of life to literally “dip their toes in philanthropy” and demonstrate that they can make a difference by becoming part of the solution.

Our health can oftentimes bring us to our knees. But it’s how we decide to play it that matters most. This is the lesson Nancy shared with us today, and I couldn’t agree more. Right now we’re doing everything in our power to inspire the best minds in our industry to continue innovating for those that can’t advocate for themselves and for all of those fighting a disease who deserve a fighting chance.

The more we interact with one another and partner with one another to enrich disease understanding, the more successful we will be. As part of that, advancements in digital biomarkers are key to making important decisions in clinical development and essential to assessing what therapies will be needed by specific patient populations now and in the future.

Also speaking this morning was my good friend at MassBio, Bob Coughlin, who articulated this so well when he said it’s all about what’s next. We have to change the paradigm and be about what’s next. I love that. If we talk about what’s next and convene the best minds, we will get there. In Boston in particular, we started the revolution in healthcare, and we intend to continue leading the way in Massachusetts and beyond. It’s also an assertion Nancy shared with us this morning in describing Pete’s reaction to his diagnosis. She acknowledged his determination to “not look backwards, but forward,” and his ability to interpret his situation as “an opportunity to change the world.”

We also had the pleasure of welcoming representatives from two of the biggest pharmaceutical companies on our panel this morning: Dr. Jeff Dage from Eli Lilly & Company and Dr. Alfred Sandrock from Biogen. Through their discussion, it’s clear we are on the cusp on new treatments in large part because we are collectively moving to molecular-based diagnosis, figuring out what these diseases are based on, and putting ourselves in position to treat illness before symptoms present. Understanding the accumulation of proteins at the molecular level can already be done. As they explain, it’s in this combination of seeing disease early and developing treatments where the real opportunity lies in putting disease behind us.The true inflection point will be when we have biomarkers that can show therapeutic effect. It was Sir Isaac Newton that said we can see further by standing on the shoulders of giants. I wholeheartedly believe in that. As these leaders shared, it’s not always the first effort that is the best one, but it’s that first one that gives us an understanding of how to make a better one. Innovation lies in recognizing the breakthroughs and advancing on them. This is where we will make a difference for patients in the long term.

And that’s the end game, right? To get treatments to the patients. As Nancy articulated to a standing ovation this morning: “Bring your patients into your boardrooms, into your labs, and into your hearts. We all have a story of someone in our lives that is struggling. Technology is enabling us to communicate and share, but it’s our personal stories of hope and determination and grit that propel us forward. It’s our time to disrupt.”

Nancy, I speak on behalf of all of us in the precision health movement when I say I couldn’t agree more. That is exactly why we brought you, former NFL players and the military into our sessions to help us inspire this incredible opportunity to transform healthcare. We said at the outset of this movement that we could slash healthcare costs by 40 percent, increase access of average citizens by 60 percent and increase productive life expectancy by eight years! If these two days of scientific debate, collaboration and inspiration are any indication of our progress and potential, lookout because we have all cylinders firing and are ready to propel precision health to the next level of transformation! ​Thank you for joining us for PPHS 2017 and I look forward to seeing you next year for PPHS 2018! In the meantime I welcome you to share your thoughts, feedback, impressions and comments with me so we can continue these important conversations and debate.